Believe In Me
by Mtakuja
Summary: It's been a few days since the prelims have ended. Kiba, who has been recently released from the hospital wonders where Hinata is. When he founds her, he has to come to terms with his own past mistakes.


Author's note- My third KibaHina that I wrote. This really should be considered canon, because it does fit in quite nicely with the actually storyline of Naruto. But sadly, it isn't, but we all can hope right! I also hope that people enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

----------------------------------------------

It had been a few days since Kiba had been released from the medical ninja's care. Currently he was heading towards his home, where he knew his sister and mother would be waiting for him.

He would have been allowed outside sooner, if the doctors didn't insist he stay longer so they could keep an eye on him. It seemed some muscles in his neck were stretched when Naruto delivered that blow to the back of his neck, causing him to smash his face onto the solid ground.

It was humiliating, especially considering how he got into such a venerable position. His own nose, his own special chakra in coated nose was turned against him. Just because Naruto had to be disgusting and blow that fowl gas into the air.

From some people's point of view Naruto might be viewed as clever for using Kiba's own skills against him. But to Kiba, and many other perceptive people, Naruto's move was a simple accident that the idiot let rip when he had lost his concentration from Kiba's sudden attack from behind.

Kiba vowed from then on, that he would never fall for such a thing again. Nor would he attack anyone from that angle ever again. His moves were good, but not against an opponent like Naruto with such a deadly weapon known as his butt. He was a bit angered that Naruto had hurt Akamaru as well. He unconsciously looked down at the dog in his hands and smiled, patting Akamaru's head. The dog really did do a good job, and Kiba felt guiltily that he himself had been tricked into punching him.

But..still Naruto did beat him, and for that he had earned his respect. No longer would he treat Naruto like an idiot, because Naruto proved to him that he wasn't that stupid.

Taking Akamaru captive, and when he transformed into the puppy after Kiba had detected that it was really him, that had really thrown him off his rocker. And then the massive defeat and Naruto hovering over him breathing heavily, he had never given in. That was one thing Kiba admired about the blonde, he never gave up, much like himself.

Kiba smirked, hands in his pocket as he made his way through the market place. People glanced at his bandaged neck, but he ignored them. Only placing his hoodie on when the looks began to annoy him. Luckily, no one had been present during his fight with Naruto, only the other candidates, hokage and jounins. If the common people saw Kiba's defeat, well lets just say Kiba wouldn't be showing his face for a long time.

Speaking of the other candidates. Kiba had not seen any of them since the prelims, not to mention he hadn't even see his own team. Didn't Shino win? So he was going to the finals? But who would be he fighting. Kiba just prayed that it wasn't the sand kid or any of the other sound ninjas. Shino would surely have to a hard time with them. But what of his sensei? What did Kurenai think of him losing.

All this un-answered questions that made Kiba not want to meet them face to face. Shino would probably silently mock him like always, while Kurenai would perhaps scorn him. Losing was not an option on their team

But what did nag him in the back of his head was Hinata. What happened to her? The last time he saw her, she sweetly gave him some medicine, which wasn't surprising coming from her. However, what really bothered him was that she had given the medicine to Naruto after their fight as well.

Hinata had somehow worked up the courage to give Naruto something. It was probably due to Kurenai's influence who had eased the process through, since Naruto was to dimwitted to take the medicine, without asking such stupid questions.

It angered him. Naruto was the one that he was fighting, Naruto was the one that beat him up like this. Why would she help out the enemy? She was his team mate right?

Come to think of it didn't Hinata's face look just a bit to concerned when Naruto fell and collapsed. When he fell, which wasn't often, what expression crossed her face? Absolutely nothing, but a simply furrowing of her brows. She didn't seem to be to concerned about him, but rather in deep concentration when he crashed his face into the ground.

Kiba quickly came to the conclusion that Hinata wanted Naruto to win, not him. Hinata was rooting for the under dog, while she ignored cheering for him, her team mate.

When he was being taken away on the stretcher he was angry and hurt. Angry because he lost to such an idiot and hurt because Hinata had rooted for the enemy and even gave him medicine. He was surprised when the girl approached him though.

"Kiba," she had said meekly, her head down, staring at the small tube of ointment in her hands.

Kiba had raised his head,and frowned at the girl who he felt had betrayed him. But when he saw the sad look on her face, he immediately softened. Hinata looked up slowly, as if unsure what to do and held the ointment out to Kiba."Here's some ointment, it's for you and Akamaru."

Kiba suddenly grinned, finding her cute manner and care for Akamaru quite cute. "You should be more concerned about yourself right now Hinata." He said, wisely, looking up at the candidates that remained. His eyes rested uneasily on the sand shin obi, Gaara . The red headed boy had his arms crossed, eyes glaring coldly at nothing in particular. He was a dangerous one, someone Hinata shouldn't even be around.

Despite her kindness, Gaara would not hesitate to kill her. Gaara's eyes suddenly turned to his, glaring down at him. At this Kiba had to urgently look away, those narrowed eyes scared him a bit. His gaze then rested on an empty one as Neji looked back at him.

The strange thing was, why was Neji staring down at them in the first place? Kiba knew Neji disliked Hinata, but for what reason he did not know. They were family right? The last person Kiba would think would hate Hinata was Neji.

His gaze drifted towards Hinata again. He was scared for her, the guys that remained were ruthless and some blood thirsty. "Listen Hinata," he began, the girl blinked curiously at him, seemingly unaware of the dangers surrounding her. This words he would say next were for Hinata's own good, he didn't want her to get hurt.

"If you are matched up against that sand ninja, forfeit the match. Same with Neji, if you fight him, he'll be merciless, he'll destroy you."

Moments later the next match was decided, Hinata had went up to rejoin her team. Kiba halted the medical ninjas once again, wanting to see the next match candidates. When Hinata's name appeared, his breath caught in his throat. But what frightened him was the name underneath it.

Hyuuga Neji.

Kiba growled and watched helplessly as they carried him away. The only thing he saw last was Hinata's wide and scared eyes. ---------------------------------

Some time later he arrived at his home, opening the door slowly as he peered inside the lit room. He threw his shoes off and yelled out to the empty room. "I'm home," Kiba moved into the living room, not bothering to remove his coat as his sister suddenly ran in from the kitchen.

"Wow your back? I thought you never come home," she said happily, patting Kiba's head like a dog when she stood in front of him. Kiba angrily batted her hand away, looking around for his mother nervously. She would not be happy to hear he had lost.

"Where's mother?"

Hana smirked. " Out on a mission, she'll be back sometime tomorrow." Kiba let out a relieved breath, his mother wouldn't be back until later. That meant his lecture about his defeat during the chuunin exam prelims would also be put on hold.

He began walking pass his sister, when a heavy hand fell on his shoulder, jerking him back to face his her. " So you aren't going to tell me about your match?" Hana said, raising an eyebrow at her brother as she proceeded to drag the boy to the couch.

"Why should I?" Kiba yelled, enraged,falling onto the cough with a loud 'plop'

His sister sat down next to him, playfully flicking her brother's head. "Why so defensive?" She asked, crossing her legs and making herself comfortable on the couch.

Kiba didn't say anything for a while, looking down thoughtfully at Akamaru. He placed the small puppy on the couch, Akamaru barked weakly in appreciation and proceeded in burying his face into the pillows. Hana gave the dog a concerned look, and touched his back cautiously. As if testing to see how much Akamaru had been damaged.

"This happened during your match?" Hana asked, seeming to go into full vet mode.

"Yes," Kiba answered, watching as his sister's brown eyes raised to meet his own. Her beautiful face was been scrunched up into a scowl, as she gently rubbed Akamaru's back. However she calmed down quickly and soundlessly reached out and removed his hoodie from his head, looking intently at his injuries.

Hana smiled, albeit a bit reluctantly. "It seems this fight was pretty tough on both of you. So, who was the person that beat you up like this?"

Kiba hesitate, a bit ashamed of the person's name that came through his lips. "Uzumaki Naruto."

A silence commenced, Hana's hand came to abrupt stop on Akamaru's back. "The boy that holds the fox demon?" She asked, wondering how the small boy had even made it into the prelims, and beat her younger brother no less. It seemed Kiba was reading her thoughts as he smiled and shrugged carelessly.

"It surprised me as well when he made it to the prelims. When we were matched together, I made the biggest mistake of underestimating him. I was cruel to him, I mocked him and knocked him down, criticizing his dream of becoming hokage. He however won the match, because I was careless."

"I see, but is there something else?"

"What do you mean?"

Hana leaned into her brother then, face stern as she glared right into his appealing eyes."There is something else that has been bothering you. Like maybe Hinata-chan perhaps?"

Kiba looked taken back at the accusation and also angered. What had his fight with Naruto have to do with a girl? What did it have to do with Hinata. He knew that seeing Hinata give Naruto that medicine upset him greatly, but that was only because she was his team mate and nothing more.

"It has nothing to do with her," He answered, his face flushing a bit red.

"Is that so?" Hana asked, placing Akamaru on her lap. "Why do you look so angry then? I just said her name."

Kiba grumbled and began to remove his coat, the room suddenly growing warmer in temperature. "Because, Hinata has nothing to do with the fight, she was just there." Cheering for Naruto, and not me. "Besides what makes you think that I was even thinking about her?"

Hana let out a chuckle, grinning at her little brother . "It's your face, it becomes slightly red whenever you think about Hinata-chan. I know this, because I am your sister and there is hardly anything you can ever hide from me."

Kiba blushed and looked away, embarrassed that his sister could read him so well. Kiba had thought he was very good at hiding such weak emotions such as love and sadness. But, there were just some people that could read into his expressions. Hana was one of them, and also Shino, who had always been in tune with everything around him.

"Kiba, if you like Hinata-chan why won't you just come out and say it?" Hana asked quietly, giving the boy an implicated look. Kiba's face began to sweat as his eyes widened. Did he really care about Hinata like that? Sure he cared for her like any team mate would, even going as far to play big brother with her when she needed it. But like? Like how a boy loved a girl. He didn't know, Kiba has never experienced such feelings for anyone.

All he did know was that it irritated him to see Hinata fawning all over Naruto. Loving the boy from afar and never even getting a 'hello' in return. In Naruto's world right now, Hinata was just a small pigment in the background. Never to be heard or seen. Even when she standing right in front of him, his blue eyes just scanned over her, like she wasn't even there.

Hinata didn't deserve to be treated like that, she deserved so much more. So much more, that he himself couldn't possible offer.

"Hinata cares for Naruto," Kiba uttered, eyebrows drawing together in a frown. He didn't tell his sister right out that he liked Hinata, his pride was to great for that. But he did tell her the reason he had to hide his feelings in the dark. It was the closet thing Kiba had ever said to a confession. His fist clenched unconsciously on his thighs as he fought back the tears that were preparing to fall.

Hana placed her hands on top of her brother's clenched fist, and whispered gently to him. " Kiba, I think I need to tell you what happened to Hinata during the matches. "

Kiba looked at her surprised. "What?"

"I was keeping it from you, because I knew you wouldn't take it to well but…." Hana trailed off, looking uncertain at her own actions. Kiba lunged forward, grabbing his sister by her lithe shoulders and shacking her, desperation in his eyes. "What happened to her!? Tell me!"

He knew Hinata was matched against her cousin, Neji. But she was a smart girl and most likely heeded his advice to forfeit the match if she was matched against him. Hinata would not have fought Neji, it wasn't like her to go dashing into danger.

"She was matched up against Hyuuga Neji, and to all of our surprise she chose to fight him."

Kiba didn't believe it. Hinata, sweet innocent Hinata had chosen to fight? "Your lying," he said, accusingly. Hana glared at him, knocking his hands of her shoulder as they were starting to dig into her flesh. She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "It is no lie, I over heard it from the doctors at the hospital while I was tending to some animals there."

Hana bit her lip. "It seemed Neji took to mocking Hinata-chan, using psychological means to bring her down. However it was Uzumaki Naruto that gave her the strength to fight, and thus the actually fight did commence. At first it looked like Hinata was winning, her smaller body being to her advantage. But as they lunged at each other and hit each other on the chest. Neji's hit proved to be more effective, and caused Hinata to drop her head and cough up blood. "

Kiba's eyes were filled with horror. "What happened after that?"

Hana took a deep breathe. "She continued to fight, even though her chakra was gone and she could no longer fight in the gentle fist style. Of course she got knocked down several times, but it was because of Naruto cheering that enabled her to get back up again and again. But she had no chance, as Neji landed the final blow to the heart she collapsed. She was close to death, by continued to stand anyway. No one ever thought Hinata was capable of such a thing."

Hinata Kiba thought worriedly. He hurriedly jumped to his feet, throwing on his jacket and looking at Hana with agitation. "Where is she now?!"

His sister looked startled, before an understand looked crossed over her face. "At the hospital," she answered, smiling. "Go to her Kiba, I am sure Hinata-chan feels very lonely." Kiba stiffened at this words, already knowing how Hinata's so called family treated her. They probably didn't even bother to go to the hospital and see her.

"I will, take care of Akamaru for me!" Kiba yelled as he ran out the door, almost tripping as he tried to put his shoes on. Hana watched him go, giggling at she patted Akamaru's head. She looked down at the dog's body and took note of the bandages wrapped around him. She frowned.

"Those damn doctors, don't they know that the bandages are to tight for a dog Akamaru's size. I guess I need to replace them." Hana said thoughtfully, picking up the small dog and leaving the room.

"I'll take good care of Akamaru right now, Kiba. Just make sure you tend to your own self inflicted injuries."

----------------------------------------------

Kiba ran down the street, his eyes set determinedly on the giant hospital building standing above the rest. He needed to get to Hinata, see if she was ok. However before he turned another corner, his eyes caught something to his right, causing him to abruptly stop. A voice called out to him.

"Kiba!"

The boy blinked and look towards the direction the sound was coming from to none other then Yamanaka Ino standing a few feet away. She was standing in front of her family's flower shop, broom in hand as she grinned at him. Kiba was curious as to why she would call him--she never even bothered to speak to him before--but he still walked over to her when she beckoned him to do so.

"Are you heading to the hospital right now?" She asked, when Kiba came within normally speaking distance. He placed his hands into his pocket and nodded, raising his eyebrow at the blonde girl.

Ino's eyes took on a sad look as she asked quietly. "So you know what happened to Hinata then, huh?"

Again Kiba nodded, biting his own lower lip anguish.

"Good, there is something I want you to give to Hinata." Ino didn't say anything further as she ran inside her own flower shop and came out within seconds with a beautiful assortment of white roses. Kiba looked generally confused as she handed to him, stepping back and placing her arms behind her back.

" Here, take this to Hinata. Just tell her there from you and not me."

Kiba looked at the flowers, and turned back to Ino surprised. "Why would you not want to take the credit for giving this roses to Hinata?" He asked, innocently. Ino let out a shriek of laugher, leaning in and patting Kiba on the head. Kiba looked irritated as she did this, since this was the second time today that he had been patted on the head like some sort of a dog.

"Boys really have no clue when it comes to romance. Just do what I say ok?" Ino was still laughing as she removed her hand from Kiba's head and went back into her shop, waving good bye over her shoulder. This left Kiba outside of the shop looking like a lost puppy. But he quickly shook his head and began heading for the hospital again, but this time with flowers in his hands.

A few minutes later, Kiba walked slowly into the hospital building. Taking note that their very little people still in the hospital. After the second exam and the prelims, there were ton of people flooding the hospital with injuries. But it seemed now the only ones remaining were those that were either in terrible condition, or on their death beds.

" Can I help you?" The women at the desk asked, as Kiba approached her. "Yeah, I was wondering what room Hyuuga Hinata is in? Can she accept visitors right now."

The lady picked up the clip board, her eyes scanning for any content they fell under the name Hyuuga. Several seconds later, she smiled. " Oh yes, she's in room 120, which is just up the stairs. However before you go, I need to ask you--" she was cut off as Kiba didn't wait for her to finish and practically flew up the stairs, nearly knocking over a doctor who was innocently standing by as he went.

He ran up the stairs and turn the corner to see room 120, standing before him. Kiba sighed, and tried to slow down his rapidly beating heart. He rose his arm and knocked quietly on the door, waiting for any sort of response.

A few seconds flew back, and Kiba was almost about to knock in the door when a small sound came from the room. "Yes, who is it?"

It was Hinata. Kiba would recognize that soft, meek voice from anywhere. "It's me Kiba, can I come in?"

There was a pause and then a tentative. "Kiba-kun.." Before the said boy opened the door and stepped in, not even considering that he was entering Hinata's private room, where should could have been doing anything that Kiba shouldn't bare witness to. Like dressing or something.

Thankfully, all Hinata was doing was sitting up in her bed. Her head was hung low as she turned and watched the boy at the door. When she saw him, her eyes widened in disbelief.

"Kiba-kun, w-what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be recovering like everyone else?" Kiba moved to the side of the bed, smiling.

"My injuries weren't nearly as serious as yours" He answered her , moving aside her glass of water as he placed the flowers down on the bed. Hinata looked at the beautiful things and blushed.

"You bought me flowers?" She asked stunned, as if the concept of receiving gifts was foreign to her.

Kiba grinned. "Of course, there a present for you so you'll get better soon." He reached out and picked a rose, handing it to her. Their hands brushed gently as he did so, causing an odd spark to occur between them. But neither showed any indication that they had felt it.

Hinata brought those rose to her face, sniffing it. When she was done she looked up at Kiba, her eyes shining with open enchantment. "Thank you, Kiba-kun."

Kiba face softened at this, feeling his heart about to burst with his love for Hinata. "Your welcome, Hinata."

There a nice silence commenced as Kiba took up a chair and sat next to the bed. Hinata still held her rose as she looked at Kiba when the boy began to speak. "Has Kurenai-sensei and Shino come to visit you?"

Hinata smiled.

"Yes, Shino only came once, but I understand that he needs to train for the finals, so he is really busy. And Kurenai-sensei comes everyday, if she can make it." Kiba was relieved that Hinata wasn't left completely alone, but still…what of her family?

"Has your family come to see you?" he asked, watching as Hinata's face fell and her small hands clutched at her blanket. Her beautiful white eyes began to grow duller as she said. "My father sent a messenger the other day. The person told me that my father was to ashamed to come himself and thought I was foolish for not fleeing a potential dangerous situation, and getting nearly killed because of it."

Kiba face filled with anger. "Does your father know that is was Neji that did it to you?"

"He doesn't care, because in his defense he says it wasn't Neji-Nissan's fault for what happened. I openly challenged my cousin, and I suffered the consequences. What was he supposed to do with me charging at him like a mad women."

"But Hinata," Kiba began, taking the girl's hand in his own. "He's your cousin, and he should feel something for hurting you like that. But he felt no remorse did he?" Hinata shook her head, sighing.

"No, I knew my cousin hated me. But I wanted to help him, I knew that he was in pain, so I was willing to get myself killed for him to change. Also Naruto-kun…" Her voice began to slowly descend in volume. "I wanted to make Naruto-kun see the real me. I didn't want to make myself look bad in front of him."

Kiba squeezed her hand, not understand the girl's logic at all. "Neji will never change his way of thinking, that's just him. And you were willing to get yourself killed so you could impress Naruto?"

Surprisingly, Hinata latched back with a fast retort. "No Kiba-kun, because Naruto-kun believed in me. And I didn't want his faith to go in vain." Kiba's eyes widened and he leaned back, his own eyes taking on a look of hurt.

"Believed in you huh?" Kiba said quietly, saying this statement more to himself then to Hinata. Could he say the say thing himself. Could he say he believed Hinata could win. No, he didn't believe, he told her to forfeit for her safety, because he knew she didn't stand a chance.

"Yes, he was the one that kept me fighting. For me to believe in my self to win, he was the one that helped me take the extra step to change myself. And you, Kiba-kun told me to quit and not even try." Hinata's eyes gradually narrowed, which didn't suit her beautiful face at all.

"You didn't believe in me." She finally said, snatching her hand from Kiba's grip and letting is rest on her chest. Her heart was beginning to hurt again, and without warning she let out a violent gag has blood erupted from her mouth.

"Hinata!" Kiba called, standing up and touching her shoulder. "Hinata are you alright! Oh god, we need to call a nurse in here." Before he could move to do so, Hinata grabbed the arm on her shoulder weakly and shook her head.

"No," she said, breathless. "They'll just hook me up to the machine again, and run test. Don't call them."

The blood dripped from her mouth and down onto the blankets below, Kiba watched this horrified. He looked up to Hinata's startling pale face, and couldn't help but notice how much the blood stood out in contrast to her white skin.

Kiba squeezed her shoulder, leaning down to her. "I'm sorry Hinata, for everything," he whispered, taking her hand and kissing it. He watched as Hinata's face looked stunned as he took her other hand and kissed it.

"I told you to not fight out of concern for you. And to tell you the truth, I don't know if you fighting was a good or bad thing. For one, you gained this injuries that could have been avoided. But more importantly something happened for the better."

He leaned away from her, and smiled shakily. "You've changed, not much, but I can see the strength behind your eyes now. Something that wasn't there before."

"Kiba-kun…" Hinata trailed off, eyes growing wide as she watched Kiba's face moved in towards her.

"Hinata.." he whispered as he let his lips cover her bloody ones. Their kiss was chaste, and innocent. Kiba knowing that he had no right to enter her mouth without permission. But, Hinata wasn't exactly struggling either.

Kiba brought his other hand up, and slowly wrapped her small body in a hug, pulling her close. He began to kiss her firmly, more confidently as he felt her kiss him back hesitantly as if unsure what she wanted.

But it was her that pulled away from this kiss, eyes looking lost. Kiba looked back at her and could tell with just looking at her, that right now, he wasn't what she wanted. He pulled away, tears trailing down his face as he reached out and wiped away the blood from her soft lips. Kiba saw that Hinata's face was flustered and her body was shaken from their kiss.

"I'm sorry Hinata," for what he was sorry for, he didn't exactly know. But seeing the pain on Hinata's face as he stood was all to much. He made his way to the door and opened it, no longer knowing if he could stay in this room and not losing his sanity. But a small voice halted his movements.

"Wait, Kiba-kun," she had whispered, clutching the flower to her chest as she looked down at the carpet. Kiba did not turn his back to see her, he couldn't see her. Now right now when his heart was threatening to fall into pieces.

"The matches are coming up within a month." Hinata began, her voice quivering. "If it isn't to much trouble Kiba-kun, would you like to come with me."

Kiba unconsciously licked the blood from his lips, and turned towards her. The smile on his face was so sincere, it immediately got rid of the hostility that was floating around between the two.

"Hinata I would love to." He answered, turning around and moving towards the door once again.

"Until then," Hinata said quietly, laying down onto her bed, and pushing her face into her pillows.

"Until then," Kiba said right back moving passed the door. The last thing he saw was Hinata's beautiful smile as the door closed soundly behind him, leaving Kiba with a sense of hope for the future.

Ending Notes- I swear KibaHina is the cutest pairing ever! I very much enjoyed writing this, and hope everyone else had just as much fun reading it. Officially Kiba and Hinata didn't get together in the end, but there is a hope for them in the future.


End file.
